USA: Snog, Marry, Avoid – California

I’m sure we all know the rules of this game, right? If not, here’s a little summary – normally, this game is played using people. Someone lists 3 people and you choose which you would snog, which you would marry and which you would avoid. Here’s an example completed by Vicky, purely to demonstrate how the game is played and in no way has there been any serious thought gone into the answers (honestly!):

Brad Pitt, Chris Pratt, Tom Hardy

Snog: Tom Hardy

Marry: Chris Pratt

Avoid: Brad Pitt

Ok, get the idea? So having visited a lot of towns and cities in California last summer on our road trip along the Pacific Coast Highway, I decided to play the game using them and give my reasons why. I, of course, had more than 3 choices which made the game quite difficult as I really had to think hard about my answers, but here they are:

Snog: Venice Beach

(San Francisco was a very close runner-up)

Venice Beach has something about it, it’s showy, think Muscle Beach for example, but super chilled at the same time. It’s certainly not the place that I could see myself staying for long, it’s one of those places that makes you feel great about yourself and really gives you a boost, you genuinely do feel better for visiting. But I don’t think I could build a relationship with it or if I did, it would certainly be an open one, as Venice Beach is far too cool for school when it comes to being monogamous. It’s busy and exciting and can definitely show you a good time, possibly a life-changing one and one that you will remember all your life, but how long before you got tired of the buzz and realise you just want to settle down with a place that could offer you stability and a future? Venice Beach is great and possibly one of my favourite beach towns along the Pacific Coast Highway but it’s somewhere I would visit for a good time, not a long time.

Marry: San Diego

(Monterey was the runner-up)

San Diego strikes me as a proper grown up. It is not purely style over substance like a lot of California is. It has a history and a stable grounding which can be explored in the Old Town, yet still has a wild streak which can be witnessed in the Gas Lamp Quarter any night of the week, especially at weekends proving it can keep you on your toes and won’t become a bore even if you are together a long time. It’s not pretentious, what you see is what you get, which when forming a lifelong relationship is vital, after all, no one likes a fake. It has enough going on to entertain you when you need it, from sports to shopping but it also offers you space and allows you to sit in comfortable silence if that’s what you want by escaping to Balboa Park or neighbouring La Jolla. It offers stability and comfort which is something I personally seek and it would never leave you feeling lonely or not wanted. A visit here will not result in a whirlwind romance, that’s over as quickly as it began but a bond that time will not break even if you cannot be together all of the time. Plus it provides amazing food and as a rubbish cook gets a big thumbs up from me.

Avoid: Los Angeles

It’s not that Los Angeles is not loveable, I just don’t think it has the capability to love back. It has a lot of great qualities but I felt that I had to dig far too deep to find them. It’s certainly superficial, it’s all about where you go to be seen and not about actually seeing things and if you don’t look right on its arm, you’ll be cast aside as quickly as you can say ‘reject’. I think any relationship formed with Los Angeles would become very toxic, very quickly and I would constantly be worried I didn’t look right, or dress right or say the right thing and be ridiculed in return. Either that or you would change to suit it, your hair, your clothes, your attitude until you become someone you didn’t recognise in the mirror anymore, literally. It can show you a good time in fact, probably the best time of your life, but on its terms, your needs or wants would not be considered. It’s well-known and from the outside considered to be amazing and welcoming when in reality, if you want to save yourself the heartache of disappointment I would definitely avoid.

As with the traditional game of Snog, Marry, Avoid – everyone’s answers will be different because come on how boring would life be if we all looked for the same qualities in our partner? There is someone for everyone out there, the same way there is a city for everyone, it just may take you a while to find them/it. Have you visited California – where’s your favourite town/city?

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Vicky & Chris

Thanks for joining us (Vicky & Chris, a married couple from Yorkshire, England) as we Eat, Sleep, Love and Travel our way around the world! Between us, we have been to 75 countries (long may the list grow!)

We have been travelling together since January 2007 when we took our first trip only two weeks from our first meeting to Florence, Italy.